Advertise on podcast: Working Cows - Regenerative Ranching to Maximize Profitability and Soil Health

Joel Salatin gave a great talk about how to undo the consolidation in our nation's food system. As part of that talk he read a chapter of his unreleased book "Food Emancipation." He also discussed at length the circumstances that led us to where we are with regard to food in this country and how we can chart a better path forward. Sponsor: Remedi Animal Solutions Relevant Links: Rogue Food Conference at Polyface (Code: Cows30 for $30 off) The Lunatic Farmer Blog Working Cows on Patreon

Tom Shea has found that unconventional mentorships are key to finding your way in Regenerative Agriculture. His relationships have continued to shape his path forward in finding a way to be profitable. This has led him to take unconventional approaches like grazing solar farms and using technology to increase his effectiveness. Sponsors: Create Coaches Ranch Right Graze Magazine Sunshine Bible Academy Relevant Links: National Grazing Lands Coalition Bus Tour National Grazing Land Coalition

How do we hear from God? The Bible is the Word of God. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are where we can hear from God. But what about other channels? What about coincidences? What about other voices that claim to be from God? How do we test those? Steve Kenyon of Greener Pastures Ranching has some questions as a result of some classes he has been taking at church. I try to answer those questions today. Sponsor: Sunshine Bible Academy Relevant Links: Greener Pastures Ranching on Facebook

Jimmy Stewart and his wife have been on a journey to find cattle that can graze year-round, calve on their own, and raise a calf on the range. They are continuing to push the envelope to find consistent and even cattle that can provide a heterosis bump for the customers purchasing their bulls. Sponsors: Ranch Right Graze Magazine (Code: WORKINGCOWS) Sunshine Bible Academy Relevant Links: Big Country Genetics

Dan Glenn of Deep Grass Graziers has been thinking deeply about what it means to be profitable in the ranching business. He has come up with a plan that could help more people be profitable when this current cattle cycle comes to an end. We discuss this plan as well as his upcoming innaugural bull sale where you can get your hands on his forage developed bulls and females. Sponsor: Ambrook Relevant Links: Deep Grass Graziers

When times are good in any sector of the economy it presents an opportunity to grow the business or diversify by investing outside of the sector in which we are most heavily invested. Chris Wiley has been a successful real estate investor for many years. He has done this while also holding down other positions sometimes across the continent from his properties. We discuss the how, when, and why of real estate investing with him today. We also discuss how to take a risk and some of the practical considerations to being a landlord. Sponsors: Ranch Right Sunshine Bible Academy Relevant Links: One of My Favorite Episodes of the Theology Pugcast Another of My Favorite Theology Pugcast Episodes And Another

There is a day coming when food buyers will be able to scan an individual food item, not a barcode, and determine its nutrient density. Dan Kittredge is a part of the team working to develop this technology. Karl Palmberg is a farmer excited about the prospect of the technology and working to retool his farm to take advantage of it by growing the most nutrient dense beef possible. Sponsor: Remedi Animal Solutions Relevant Links: The BioNutrient Institute Sunlight and Rain Grass-Fed Beef

Teddy Gentry of the band Alabama was self-educated in the back of a tour bus about what it takes to make money in the cattle business. He learned about soil health, grazing, and genetics. This led to his development of the South Poll Grass Cattle breed. We discuss the breeds that make up this hearty and profitable composite as well as the process and the unique restrictions they have placed on the breed to protect its long-term success. Sponsor: Ambrook Relevant Links: South Poll Grass Cattle Association

Jay Young of Young Red Angus is a big picture thinker. He has been experimenting with grazing collars for a while now and he is excited about the potential they have to revolutionize his business. He is talking about being more profitable running on fewer acres with better soil health and less time invested. That hits every facet of ranching. We discuss his vision for what the future could look like on this episode. Sponsor: Remedi Animal Solutions Relevant Links: Young Red Angus 5th Annual Bull Sale Young Red Angus on YouTube Jay's Previous Episode: Ep. 287 Jay Young – Using Compost Extracts

South Dakota Representative John Shubeck is on a mission to help South Dakota be ready when Thomas Massie's PRIME Act passes. He joins me to discuss his bill as well as what other states and residents in other states can do to help with Thomas Massie's PRIME Act.  Sponsor: Get Rogue Food Conference Recordings Relevant Links: John Shubeck Legislative Page Bill Page (Already Signed :facepalm: Congrats Rep. Shubeck!)

One of the sweet spots in any system is when you can turn a "waste" product into a beneficial output. Wool, unfortunately, has become one such product. It isn't as high quality in wetter environments and certain breeds also struggle to produce high quality wool. Add to that the difficulty of those who know how to or want to shear sheep and you can see how this has led to a drying up of the wool market in many places. Israel Vasek has found a way to take these undervalued wool fleeces and turn them into a powerful, carbon rich, soil amendment. We are going to discuss that process with him today as well as the results of some of the studies using wool pellets as a soil amendment. Sponsors: Kaizen Solutions Sunshine Bible Academy Relevant Links: Wooly Naturals

Whenever I hear the "Welcome Back to Ranch Hacks" opener I am immediately intrigued to see what Malcolm MacLean has done to repurpose something to optimize his effectiveness on the ranch. While we do discuss some of his Ranch Hacks today we actually spend a fair bit of our time discussing his Total Grazing program and the cowherd he has been developing to fit that system.  Sponsors: Kaizen Solutions Sunshine Bible Academy Relevant Links: Ranch Hack on Facebook Ranch Hacks on YouTube Ranch Hacks on Instagram

It takes a unique mindset to continue to stay in touch with the traditional way of doing things. Scott Gore has been on this journey from a young age. His focus has been on rawhide braiding. We discuss how he got started, lessons he has learned, as well as how he would recommend getting started today. We also discuss what he is doing to help others develop a similar passion to what he has for rawhide braiding. Relevant LInks: Scott Gore Rawhide

How do you regenerate a landscape that your family hasn't managed for decades? This has been the journey that Jim Eitel has been on. We discuss his strategy and the usefulness of the good financial information provided by Ambrook in deciding what to do next. Sponsor: Ambrook Relevant Links: Eitel Valley Farms

Many are familiar with the three-legged stool of Holistic Management made up of Economic, Social, and Environmental legs. While conventional agriculture by and large does a great job of focusing on the environmental and economic legs we can tend to neglect the social leg. Even if we focus on caring for our people it is easy to neglect our community. Today we are joined by Desi King and Bill Milton of Winnett ACES an organization focused on revitalizing rural Montana through facilitating education in regenerative agriculture and making improvements to rural social and cultural infrastructure. Sponsors: Wineglass Ranch Relevant Links: WinnettAces.org South Dakota Grasslands Initiative Summit